Chili - a hot weight loss aid

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Advantage for hot eaters: Those who like to season their food with chillies may automatically eat less. This is not only because the fiery aromas inflame the palate: the piquant capsaicin may act as a natural appetite suppressant.

Nature has come up with something to prevent someone from overeating: When eating, the stomach expands. When it is full, nerves in the abdomen are activated, which send a signal to the brain. They signal him to stop eating.

Natural regulation of eating

Australian researchers have now found that such saturation signals are regulated by so-called TRPV1 receptors. These docking points for special messenger substances apparently play an important role in the regulation of appetite.

It was already known that capsaicin - the substance that makes chillies spicy - can influence the eating behavior of people. Those who eat larger amounts of the hot pods tend to eat less overall than people who eat less spicy. Does TRPV1 play a role in this?

To find out, Prof. Amanda Page from the University of Adelaide and her colleagues studied the effect of the satiety receptor using different groups of mice. One group had intact TRPV1 receptors, the other had no docking points for the satiety messenger due to genetic changes.

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The result: in mice without a TRPV1 receptor, the reaction to the expansion of the stomach was subdued. The animals were later full and accordingly consumed more food.

The Australians have thus found a possible explanation for the mechanism that makes chilli a natural appetite suppressant: "Capsaicin may act on the receptors and nerves in the stomach in such a way that a feeling of satiety sets in faster." eats as is good for him.

Fat disrupts the signal chain

Another experiment showed how crucial the “chilli receptor” is for satiety and weight: For twenty weeks, mice equipped with or without a TRPV1 receptor were given either high-fat or standard food.

Mice that were fed a high-fat diet became overweight, as expected - this was true for both animals with and without TRPV1 equipment. "It is interesting, however, that after the high-fat treatment we found disturbances in the docking points in overweight mice with actually intact TRPV1 receptors," says Page. In contrast to their conspecifics who had received standard food, the saturation signals of the stomach were weaker in the fat-fed animals. Apparently, a high fat diet can interfere with the functioning of the receptor.

Chili protects against cancer

Chili, or capsaicin, should not only help you lose weight. Studies suggest that it also prevents diseases like cancer. Another American mouse study has already shown that capsaicin reduces the risk of colon cancer. The TRPV1 receptors also play an important role in this. (vv)

Sources:

Kentish, S. J. et al. TRPV1 Channels and Gastric Vagal Afferent Signaling in Lean and High Fat Diet Induced Obese Mice. PLOS ONE, 2015; 10. DOI:10.1371 / journal.pone.0135892

De Jong et al .. Ion channel TRPV1-dependent activation of PTP1B suppresses EGFR-associated intestinal tumorigenesis. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Aug. 1, 2014

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